Friday, November 14, 2014

In light of the recent arrest of Chase Merritt for the murders of Joseph, Summer, Gianni, and Joseph McStay, who were missing for over four years before they were found in shallow graves in the Mohave Desert, I decided to do a reading to find out we will get any answers through this development.

We begin with a base of the ace of wands crossed by the Knight of Swords. This is almost classic symbolism for a new piece of information, or a tip, being put into the hands of law enforcement. Policemen are often represented by court cards in the suit of swords. Below this, we have the Page of Wands, which is also often a message, backing this up. The Page can also be a person with information, but this person would be a witness, not a defendant or anyone involved in the investigation. The Fool appears, as the reason the tip was investigated, and also suggests that someone went "out on a limb" to investigate a lead that seemed dubious, or not provable at first.

The Emperor appears as a possible motivation for the arrest, and I suppose that is a pretty straightforward message: it stands to reason that Joseph McStay's father would want the case solved as soon as possible. Perhaps he is the one who did some of the sleuthing, or discovered something in his son's possessions or records that required further investigation. This is followed by the High Priestess, reversed, in the place of things that will come to pass. I do not like this card here, because it tells us of surface knowledge, or half truths; not the revealing of the entire truth. A challenge for law enforcement and prosecutors will be a temptation to accept only part of the whole story, rather than digging deeper.

The first card on the staff is the three of swords, telling us that there has already been a bit of "infighting" between individuals close to this matter. Testimony from the person who was arrested may bring on more debate, and it will become even more personal than it already is. This is followed by the four of swords, reversed, which is a sense of urgency on the parts of family to get the whole matter over with, and the case closed. In the place of desires, we have a card that seems very much out of place, and that is the Moon. This is not a desire for closure, but a desire to keep hiding something, or misrepresenting something. Combined with the reversed High Priestess, this does not bode well for the arrest of Chase Merritt, in and of itself, solving this case. The last card is the three of wands, indicating that we are looking for more than one individual to stand trial for this crime. Ultimately, we will eventually get that information, but it will not be easy on the survivors of the deceased, and getting the truth from any witnesses or witnesses after the fact will be difficult.